JOHN Carew believes Villa are on the cusp of something special under Martin O'Neill.

The Norwegian striker has made a massive impact at his new club but has seen them pick up just three points from a possible nine.

Nevertheless, he can see the bigger picture after seeing Villa outplay Newcastle, West Ham and Reading in his opening three fixtures.

"The spirit of the group is fantastic. There are a lot of young players with a great future and I am really happy to be here," he said. "The fans are really fantastic, really lifting us and backing us and it is like having an extra player on the pitch.

"The manager is fantastic. You have everything you want. You go out there and see all the possibilities that this team has and it is very exciting."

Carew is happier off the pitch, too, having settled into a new house, although he looks set to move into something more spacious in the summer.

"I have found a place to live now which is okay. In the summer I will look again," he said.

And he is delighted with his own impact on the Villa team, despite the defeat at Reading.

"It was a very physical and difficult game and they had a lot of enthusiasm in their team but, even though we created some chances, you are never happy when you lose so the boys are disappointed," he said. "We have to try and take the positives out of the match.

"We played good football. We were close to scoring. We managed to create danger and now we have to go for the next match."

Carew believes his strike partner Ashley Young will continue to blossom at Villa despite his glaring misses at the weekend.

"That's life in football. Sometimes you score with the first chance and then the next match the ball just doesn't want to go in," he said referring to Young's debut goal on Tyneside.

"I had a shot from Ashley's ball against the post and then you start to think it is that sort of day.